Have a character backstory, but not sure how to build it.

[Rfkannen]

Hi, I have a character backstory, but I can't figure out how to build the character mechanically.

My Character is an eladrin (using the ua till mords comes out) who worships a trickster god (Basically bugs bunny with a little dash of robin hood). He has spent the last 5 years being trained by one of the champions of that god, going around helping the common folk, tracking down a devil cult (who are the bbeg of our campaign),doing some monster slaying when need be, a lot of robin hooding, and a lot of what you would expect to see in a bugs bunny cartoon but with ogres instead of Elmer Fudd. As a kid he was kidnapped by a devil cult, but freed by an angel of his god. As a group we actually played through the backstory with level 0 characters, so this is pretty set in stone (we played through the being kidnapped and saved by the angel, and my character swearing himself to the god, not the time afterwards)

The other characters in the party are a firbbolg shepard druid, and a tabaxi divine soul sorccerer.


The main character's I have played before were a battlemaster (level 5) and a celestial pact warlock (level 4). I really liked the fighter, it was fun to be able to nova, it was fun to have the versatility of the battle master dice, grappling was awesome, and it was fun to be an engine of destruction on the battlefield, . I really liked the warlock as a character, but in combat I got really bored of casting hex and then eldritch blasting, which is what I did most of the time. When I was able to use stuff like hold person that was great, but I didn't do that much (more of a me problem than a problem with the class). Out of combat being a master of deceit and having a bunch of fun illusion spells was great. I want to try something different from those two, get a feeling for all the classes and play styles, but I thought it was worth mentioning what I did and did not enjoy.

I am not saying I want to minmax, but I have found I have more fun when playing a character that is effective in combat.


I am actually still playing the battlemaster in another campaign, so I want to play something different from it to mix it up.

Since I have never played a full caster (well warlock I guess, but not a normal caster) I thought it might be fun to try out one.

my main two thoughts were 1) ancients paladin, but that might too similar to the fighter, and 2) trickster cleric, but everything I have heard about trickster clerics has been really negative.

We are starting at level 1, but the dm has doubled xp gain, so we are probably going to get fairly high level.

What would you play?

ps. Because of backstory reasons, he also gets the guidance cantrip and profiency in short swords no matter what class he his)

[JakOfAllTirades]

Fey-pact Warlock or Trickster Cleric would both be good choices for this character. Who cares if some people don't like the Trickster Cleric? If it fits your character concept, make the most of it.

Bards can also be excellent tricksters with the right choices of spells and skills. I'd suggest the Lore College just for its sheer versatility. You'll have at least 8 skills by 3rd level, with expertise in two of them. (Take Enhance Ability to make lots of skill checks with Advantage.) Grab these spells: Disguise Self, Invisibility, Suggestion. And the cantrips Mage Hand and Minor Illusion. Throw in Cutting Words and you've got an amazing trickster Bard.

Oh, and you're an Eladrin so you've already got some teleportation, which no trickster should be without.

[Honest Tiefling]

From what I read of this cleric guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?374604-The-Devout-and-the-Dead-a-guide-to-Clerics), the issue with the Trickery Domain is two-fold. Firstly, the first ability grants advantage to a single creature that isn't you. So you can't use it to sneak, but your druid friend can. For some parties, only having one sneak is an issue, but your party is a bit small to begin with. If you are okay increasing the druid's stealth and nothing else, well, that's not an issue.

Secondly, it has a melee focused ability (Divine Strike), but you don't get a good selection of weapons from the class, but this is remedied by the fact that your character already possessing proficiency with short swords. Eladrin gives a much needed teleportation boost.

So in the end...Go Bard if you want a class that will always be great. Go Cleric if you want to exploit the set up you have and play something that wouldn't be as good in combat otherwise. Your race and plot abilities make it far more tempting so if I were you, I'd do a cleric.

[CTurbo]

From your backstory, Trickster Cleric by far makes the most sense. I could see possibly fitting Arcana Cleric in there and just RPing him as a trickster.

The base Cleric class is extremely strong so don't worry about the Trickster domain not being the best mechanically.

Or, you can always ask your DM to switch out Divine Strike with Potent Spellcasting which is probably what it should have had anyway. That is my only real issue with the domain anyway. This domain has strong domain spells. You could possibly dip Rogue later on if you wanted.

[Rfkannen]

Alright sounds like trickery cleric is what I am going to do!

any tips on what I should do for stats or asi(when level 4)? Or anything liike that?

Useing 28 point buy, with a variant rule you can raise a stat to 16 for 11 points.


since both the other players are squishier casters, I am thinking going melee with this one. Any recommendations on it?

[Honest Tiefling]

1) Strength, or Dexterity? Trickery screams dexterity, but that blessing is anyone BUT you, so...But Eladrin also pushes it to dexterity.

2) How much charisma are you going to need? I assume your sorcerer buddy is your face, but never hurts to have two people if your DM is willing to accommodate such.

4) Likewise, how much intelligence? It's a matter of personal taste of how high (or low) this is, but you don't exactly have much in the way of neeeerds in your group. The usefulness of such will of course, depend on your DM.

[Rfkannen]

1) Strength, or Dexterity? Trickery screams dexterity, but that blessing is anyone BUT you, so...But Eladrin also pushes it to dexterity.

2) How much charisma are you going to need? I assume your sorcerer buddy is your face, but never hurts to have two people if your DM is willing to accommodate such.

4) Likewise, how much intelligence? It's a matter of personal taste of how high (or low) this is, but you don't exactly have much in the way of neeeerds in your group. The usefulness of such will of course, depend on your DM.

1) I am thinking dex, elf gets a +2 so might as well take advantage of it! also get to be a little stealthy!

2 and 4) Intelligence fits the character really well, so it would be nice to have it kinda high, the character is the nerd of the group. Charisma would be nice, just because I like being involved in social situations, but is less nececary.

[Honest Tiefling]

Wis 16, Dex 14, Con 12, Str 8, Cha 14, Int 12 is a more RP based spread with the extra point going into charisma. You're an elf, you can afford the strength dip, you're probably a twig anyway. Of course you are a bit lacking in the hit points department, but you'd need to drop some scores to get there.

Now, if your druid buddy is cranking up their wisdom (and they probably are), you can take a leave of absence from perception duties. Ask yourself, do you want to focus on skills/attacking/defense and use only buff/curative/utility spells, or be an awesome spell-casting cleric? If you don't take offensive spells, you can relax on the wisdom. Your sorcerer buddy will probably cover for this.

[CTurbo]

You're going to be tough with medium armor and shield but I would NOT play a Trickster Cleric as a melee warrior. You only get simple weapon + your short sword you mentioned.

If you're going to be a Cleric, you want 16 Wis to start and you want that to 20 pretty quick. I would only consider Warcaster or Res(Con) over bumping Wis at level 4 or 8.

[Nifft]

Just a thought: if your character will be tracking down this cult, then a Knowledge Cleric might also be in-theme. The ability to see through trickery is also very much trickery-oriented, just from the other side.

But there's nothing wrong with being a Trickster Cleric.

[GlenSmash!]

Trickster Cleric seems the closest fit, but I could see Divine Soul Sorcerer working really well too.